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<title>Of books and bruises by Canadian_girl2000</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28123983">Of books and bruises</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadian_girl2000/pseuds/Canadian_girl2000'>Canadian_girl2000</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, everyone is grumpy in this one except for Jason</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:22:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>878</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28123983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadian_girl2000/pseuds/Canadian_girl2000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A fall leaves Dick in a bad mood, so Jason reminds him that he's always willing to listen.</p><p>Whump"tober" day 10: Bruises</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson &amp; Jason Todd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946773</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>93</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Of books and bruises</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“The hell happened to you?” a voice asked from somewhere off to Dick’s right. He groaned as he raised his head to look at Jason.</p><p> </p><p>“You look like you’ve been five rounds with Bane,” Jason stated, coming to stand next to the couch. He poked Dick’s side and Dick let out another groan.</p><p> </p><p>“Feels like I did,” Dick said, shifting the ice pack to the spot Jason had poked. He let his head fall back onto the couch and closed his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Another poke. </p><p> </p><p>“Seriously, what happened?” Jason repeated. Dick groaned once more. Couldn't Jason just leave him to suffer in peace? </p><p> </p><p>“Fell,” he mumbled, “now go ‘way.”</p><p> </p><p>There was a pause. He heard Jason shift his weight.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you okay?” </p><p> </p><p>Why wasn’t Jason getting the hint?</p><p> </p><p>“Dandy” he replied, sarcasm oozing from his voice.</p><p> </p><p>“You know you can talk to me if you need to, right?” Jason said. Receiving no answer, Jason sighed and left Dick to his misery. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p> </p><p>It seemed like everyone was in a mood at the manor today. Jason had only come by for his weekly conversation with Alfred, but the butler was nowhere to be found, which meant he was probably in the Batcave. He had passed Damian in the foyer, and the kid hadn’t even acknowledged his presence. He simply sulked, passed Jason and stormed up to his room. Then there was Dick, who was bruised and battered and moping on the couch. </p><p> </p><p>The mood in the cave wasn’t much better. Tim was hunched over the batcomputer, typing furiously. Jason walked over to him and peered over his shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>“What happened to Dick?” he asked. Tim paused for a second before answering.</p><p> </p><p>“He fell.” was all he said.</p><p> </p><p>“What is it with everyone and short answers?” Jason exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “Could you give me a bit more information than ‘he fell’. ” </p><p> </p><p>Tim let out a sigh and turned to look at Jason.</p><p> </p><p>“We were fighting some of Joker’s henchmen on a roof. We were winning, but one of them managed to pull Damian over the edge of the roof as he fell. Dick rushed over to help him, but two of the henchmen pushed him off the roof” he said, running a hand through his tousled hair.</p><p> </p><p>“Shit. Are they okay?” Jason inquired. Damian seemed fine, or at least he had for the brief second Jason had seen him.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Damian managed to catch the ledge as he fell. He’s just mad that he got pulled off the roof. Dick, on the other hand…” Tim hesitated, turning back to the computer, “Well, you know Dick’s experiences with falling. Thankfully it wasn’t a huge fall.” </p><p> </p><p>“So no major injuries?” Jason asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Not really. Damian is fine. Dick bruised a few ribs and his pride as well. He panicked when Damian fell and he thinks it’s his fault. Then his fall definitely didn’t help. If anything, I’m more worried about his mental state. Last I heard Alfred bandaged up his ribs, gave him some ice and told him not to move from the couch.”</p><p> </p><p>“Where is Alfred anyway?” Jason looked around the cave, but the man was nowhere to be seen.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s either badgering Damian, or he’s wherever B decided to sulk.” Tim turned to glare at him, “Now if you don’t mind, I have a report to finish.”</p><p> </p><p>He left Tim and trudged his way back up to the manor. It seemed his time with Alfred would need to be rescheduled. With no other reason for being at the manor, he made his way towards the exit. On his way, he passed by Dick who hadn’t moved since Jason had left him. He stared at his brother for a minute then let out an exasperated sigh. </p><p> </p><p>“Dick!” he called out, walking into the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?” came the muffled reply.</p><p> </p><p>“Move your legs”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Dick asked as he raised his head.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to sit there, so move your legs,” Jason stated, as if it had been obvious.</p><p> </p><p>Watching Jason out of the corner of his eye, Dick moved his legs off the couch. Jason grabbed a book off one of the shelves and sat down where Dick’s feet had been. Once he was settled, Dick brought his feet to rest in Jason’s lap. A moment passed before Jason spoke.</p><p> </p><p>“Tim told me what happened,” he said.</p><p> </p><p>“M’fine”</p><p> </p><p>God, why was everyone in this family so damn stubborn? </p><p> </p><p>“Okay. But if you want to talk, I’ll listen.” Jason said. When Dick said nothing, he opened the book and started to read. </p><p> </p><p>He sat in silence, the only sound the turning of pages and Dick’s breathing.</p><p> </p><p>“What’re you reading?” Dick asked some minutes later.</p><p> </p><p>Jason turned the cover so his brother could see it. “In the spirit of Christmas, I’m reading A Christmas Carol.” Dick snorted at the pun. </p><p> </p><p>Another moment of silence.</p><p> </p><p>“Could you read it out loud?” Dick asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure. Want me to restart?” </p><p> </p><p>Dick waved a hand lazily. “Nah, wherever you’re at is fine.”</p><p> </p><p>So Jason settled in and started to read aloud. Dick didn’t want to talk yet, but he would eventually and when he did, Jason would be there to listen. For now, he would content himself with providing a distraction to his bruised up brother.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/canadian-girl2000">My Tumblr</a>
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